IT BECOMES MORE PERILOUS FOR ZAHID & HADI IF THEY RAM THROUGH DEC 8 RALLY: DESPITE MAHATHIR CONFIRMING ICERD WON’T BE RATIFIED, ORGANIZERS INSIST ON STAGING INCENDIARY RALLY – EVEN AMID CALLS FROM WITHIN UMNO, SUCH AS KHAIRY, TO CANCEL TO ‘COOL DOWN THE POLITICAL TEMPERATURE’

The gathering regarding the ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) will proceed as planned, according to its organisers.

However, Gerakan Pembela Ummah secretariat chief Aminuddin Yahaya said the Dec 8 gathering at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur would not be a protest, but a celebration.

This afternoon, following weeks of protests, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that the government would not ratify the convention.

“We will proceed with the rally as a celebratory gathering because the people’s voice has succeeded in opposing Icerd after the government decided to cancel its ratification,” Aminuddin told Malaysiakini.

He was also confident that the gathering would draw a large crowd to celebrate the “people’s victory”.

Meanwhile, former minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the gathering, which is also backed by Umno and PAS, should not take place.

“The government has cancelled plans to ratify Icerd.

“This is the time to reduce the nation’s ‘political temperature’. Better not to proceed,” he tweeted.

Earlier, the former Umno Youth chief urged Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah to resign over the latest development.

He noted how Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had committed to ratifying Icerd at the UN general assembly in September. – MKINI

PAS to go ahead with ICERD rally on December 8

PAS will proceed with the December 8 rally at Dataran Merdeka over the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), its deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said.

However, it will no longer be a protest.

Instead, the rally will be “a celebratory and thanksgiving gathering” following the cabinet’s decision not to ratify the international treaty which has sparked massive debate over Malay rights and the position of Islam in the country.

Tuan Ibrahim said the Islamist party welcomed Putrajaya’s decision, which was announced in a statement by the Prime Minister’s Department earlier today.

“The original plans for the rally will continue… The people have shown their readiness to participate in the rally. Preparations have been made in each of the states,” he said in a statement carried by PAS organ Harakahdaily.

The rally at Dataran Merdeka will feature prayers and speeches by party leaders.

The Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement today to announce that the government will not ratify ICERD and that it will defend the federal constitution, which reflects the social contract that representatives of all the races agreed to during the formation of the country more than 60 years ago.

PAS, Umno and Malay-rights groups had been against the plan to ratify the treaty.

Legal minds and rights activists, however, have said ratifying ICERD would not necessitate any amendment to Article 153 in the constitution on the special position of Malays, as ICERD allows for temporary race-based affirmative action.  – THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT

Saifuddin: Cabinet made unanimous decision on ICERD

PUTRAJAYA — The government decided not to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) at the meeting of the Cabinet today, said Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.

It was a unanimous decision, he added.

Saifuddin said the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government is open to giving people the opportunity to discuss complicated issues hitherto regarded as “tightly sealed” such as LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) and, now, ICERD.

“But when ICERD reached the ‘allergic’ stage, the Cabinet used its discretion to decide that the government will not ratify the convention,” he said at a press conference after launching the Integrity Day of the Foreign Ministry here.

The Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement today to announce that the PH government will not ratify the ICERD and that it will defend the Federal Constitution in which is enshrined the social contract agreed to by the representatives of all the races during the formation of the country. — Bernama

MKINI / THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT /BERNAMA